Digital camera

ABSTRACT

A digital camera of the present invention has: an optical housing having a bending optical system for reflecting photographic object light entering along a first optical axis to a second optical axis direction perpendicular to the first optical axis to form an image on an image pickup device; a camera main body having a containing portion for containing the optical housing slidably only in the second optical axis direction and having support portions for supporting the optical housing provided on each of both sides surfaces of the containing portion across the second optical axis of the bending optical system; and a shock absorbing unit provided between an inner surface of the containing portion of the camera main body in which the support portions are not provided and an outer surface of the optical housing facing thereto.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/274,714, filed Nov. 20, 2008, which claims the benefit of JapaneseApplications No. 2007-303351 filed in Japan on Nov. 22, 2007, No.2007-303352 filed in Japan on Nov. 22, 2007 and No. 2007-303353 filed inJapan on Nov. 22, 2007, the contents of which are incorporated herein bytheir reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a digital camera containing in a cameramain body an optical housing having a bending optical system configuredto bend a photographic object light entering along a first optical axisto a second optical axis direction perpendicular to the first opticalaxis and form an optical image on a light-receiving surface of an imagepickup device arranged on the second optical axis.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, various digital cameras have been put to practical use,which have an optical housing configured including a lens barrel unithaving a plurality of optical lenses and the like, an image pickup unitincluding an image pickup device for subjecting an optical image of aphotographic object formed by the optical lenses to photoelectricconversion, and the like.

As for these digital cameras, reduction of size of the whole device isalways desired so that a user may always carry it with her/him and useit at ease at any place.

On the other hand, if a user always carries a digital camera,possibility increases that she/he, while carrying it, accidentally dropsit or unexpectedly allows it to collide into a wall or the like, forexample. However, since such a digital camera is an extremely preciselyconfigured device, if external shock force is applied thereto, theexternal force can influence inner components, which can cause breakageor failure of the inner components.

Thus, as for conventional small size devices such as digital cameras, inorder to cope with shock such as dropping, a variety of ones have beenproposed configured with a floating structure such that inner componentsare configured to be movable in a device main body and a buffer memberis provided between an outer surface of the movable inner components andan inner surface of the device main body, by Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open Publication No. 2003-258971, Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open Publication No. 2005-306078, Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open Publication No. 2006-80987, Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open Publication No. 2006-40503 and the like, for example.

In small size devices of such floating structure, when shock force byexternal force is applied to the exterior of the device main body, theshock force is absorbed by the buffer member being compressed.

The small size device disclosed by the above-mentioned Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-258971 is a cellular phone orthe like having a main body case which retains a camera unit and definesa contour, being configured with a buffer member provided in planesbetween a unit case and the main body case respectively along adirection of movement of lenses (optical axis direction; X-axisdirection) and a direction perpendicular thereto (Y-axis direction) inorder to alleviate shock force applied to the camera unit through themain body case.

The small size device disclosed by the above-mentioned Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-306078 is a vehicle-mountedplayer apparatus installed in a dashboard in a vehicle interior, beingconfigured with a buffer member interposed between an outer housingincorporated into the dashboard and an apparatus main body housed in theouter housing.

The small size devices disclosed by the above-mentioned Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-80987 and the above-mentionedJapanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-40503 areconfigured with a buffer member interposed between an outer surface of aslot portion removably housing a disk-shaped recording medium cartridgewhich is housed in a device main body and other inner components.

SUMMARY

A digital camera of the present invention has: an optical housing havinga generally flat shape, having a bending optical system for reflectingphotographic object light entering along a first optical axis to asecond optical axis direction perpendicular to the first optical axis toform an optical image on an image pickup device located on the secondoptical axis; a camera main body having a containing portion forcontaining the optical housing slidably only in the second optical axisdirection and having a support portion for supporting the opticalhousing provided on each of both side surfaces of the containing portionacross the second optical axis of the bending optical system; and shockabsorbing means provided between an inner surface portion of thecontaining portion of the camera main body in which the support portionis not provided and an outer surface portion of the flat optical housingfacing the inner surface portion, the shock absorbing means absorbingshock by means of shearing force in the second optical axis directiongenerated between the inner surface portion of the containing portion ofthe camera main body and the outer surface portion of the opticalhousing when the optical housing is displaced by sliding in the secondoptical axis direction relatively in the containing portion of thecamera main body due to shock.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 7 show a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing appearance of a digital camera;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the digital camera;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of essential part, schematically showing astate of arrangement of an optical housing with respect to the cameramain body of the digital camera;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the assembly structure ofthe camera main body and the optical housing of the digital camera beingbrought out;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of shock absorbing means disposedon the front surface of the optical housing of the digital camera;

FIG. 6 is an assembly view showing a state in which the shock absorbingmeans is attached to the front surface of the optical housing of thedigital camera;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the attachment region of a shock absorbingmember of the optical housing of the digital camera, along VII-VII inFIG. 6;

FIGS. 8 to 13 show a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of essential part, corresponding to FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view corresponding to FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is an assembly view corresponding to FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the shock absorbing means;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view along XIII-XIII in FIG. 11;

FIGS. 14 to 17 show a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view showing the shock absorbingmeans disposed on the front surface of the optical housing of thedigital camera, being exploded;

FIG. 15 is an assembly view showing a state in which the shock absorbingmeans is attached to the front surface of the optical housing of thedigital camera;

FIG. 16 is a front view of the optical housing; and

FIG. 17 is a sectional view along XVII-XVII in FIG. 16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below withreference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

A first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 7. InFIG. 2, part of the back side of the digital camera is torn apart toshow the arrangement of an optical housing provided therein.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a digital camera 1 adopted in the presentembodiment is mainly constituted by a camera main body in the form of asubstantially rectangular parallelepiped box, inner componentsincorporated in the camera main body such as an optical housing 4,various units and electric circuits, various operation members disposedon the surface of the camera main body and coupled to the innercomponents, and the like.

The optical housing 4 is mainly constituted by a bending optical systemconfigured to bend photographic object light entering along a firstoptical axis to a second optical axis direction perpendicular to thefirst optical axis and form an optical image of the photographic objecton the light-receiving surface of an image pickup device arranged on thesecond optical axis, and a lens barrel unit including a shutter, a lensdriving device and the like.

As shown in FIG. 4, the camera main body is configured in a shape of abox with a front cover member 2 formed so as to cover the front surface,both side surfaces, top surface and bottom surface and a rear covermember 3 formed so as to cover mainly the rear side being combined. Theoptical housing 4 is movably arranged at a predetermined region in thecamera main body.

In the rear cover member 3 on the rear side of the camera main body areprovided a plurality of operation members 13 which are used when variouskinds of operation input to be executed at the time of photographing andreproduction are performed, such as a T button and a W button forzooming, an operation mode setting button, a photographing andreproduction operation switching button, a menu display operationbutton, a photographing area switching button (macro button), a strobemode switching button, a self-timer button, and an exposure correctionswitching button, as well as a display portion 16 of a display device.

In a substantially middle portion of the rear cover member 3, a displaywindow 16 a opens such that display of the display portion 16 can beexposed toward the exterior. Further, on the top side of the camera mainbody, operation members such as a shutter button 14 and a power sourceoperating button 15 are disposed.

In the front cover member 2, openings are formed such as a photographingwindow 2 d for allowing light flux to enter the optical housing 4provided in the camera main body, a light generating window 2 e of aflash light generating device, and the like.

In the digital camera 1, a camera main body in a shape of a box isformed by fixing the four corner regions of both of the front covermember 2 and the rear cover member 3, being combined, to each otherusing coupling members such as screws.

In the inner space of the camera main body thus formed, a plurality ofinner constituent units such as the optical housing 4 and the displaydevice, and a plurality of circuit boards and electrical members and thelike (for example, a main board 18 and a strobe capacitor 17) formingvarious electric circuits are disposed respectively in predeterminedregions.

In the present embodiment, particular attention is directed to thearrangement of the optical housing 4 among the plurality of innercomponents.

The optical housing 4 has a generally flat shape, and has a lens barrelunit including a plurality of optical lenses constituting a bendingoptical system configured to bend light flux from a photographic objectentering along the first optical axis O1 (see FIG. 1) through thephotographing window 2 d of the front cover member 2 toward a directionperpendicular to the first optical axis O1 by a reflection prism (notshown) and guide it toward an image pickup device 25 (see FIG. 3)disposed in the bottom side of the optical housing 4 on the secondoptical axis O2, which is the optical axis after bending, therebyforming an optical image of the photographic object on thelight-receiving surface, and a lens retaining frame therefor.

Though not particularly shown, in the optical housing 4, a shutter unit,a shutter driving motor for driving the shutter unit, a focusing motor,a zooming motor, an electrical board having the image pickup device 25(see FIG. 3) mounted and the like are mounted integrally and movably inthe direction of the optical axis O2, in addition to the above-mentionedcomponents. With regard to these component members and arrangementsthereof, since these matters do not directly relate to the presentinvention, detailed explanation thereof is omitted, as being inaccordance with the configuration of a common camera provided with anoptical housing having a bending optical system.

In the camera main body of the digital camera 1, the optical housing 4is disposed at a predetermined region in the camera main body nearer toone side as shown in FIG. 2, for example. The arrangement of the opticalhousing 4 in the camera main body is not limited to the example of thepresent embodiment; the optical housing 4 may also be disposed at thesubstantially middle portion in the camera main body, for example.

In this case, a containing portion 2 x is formed in the inner surface ofthe front cover member 2 of the digital camera 1 so as to contain theoptical housing 4 slidably only in the direction along the secondoptical axis O2, as shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the region inside aborder indicated by oblique lines is shown to be the containing portion2 x.

The containing portion 2 x is formed in the inner surface of the frontcover member 2 of the digital camera 1 with stairsteps in accordancewith the outer shape of the optical housing 4, with support portions 2f, 2 g, 2 h, 2 i provided on both sides of the second optical axis O2 ofthe optical housing 4.

When the optical housing 4 is arranged in the containing portion 2 x,regions near the four corners of the optical housing 4, that is, regionsdenoted by reference numerals 4 f, 4 g, 4 h, 4 i shown in FIG. 3 are insurface contact with the support portions 2 f, 2 g, 2 h, 2 i.

That is, by the four corner regions 4 f, 4 g, 4 h, 4 i of the opticalhousing 4 being respectively in surface contact with the supportportions 2 f, 2 g, 2 h, 2 i of the containing portion 2 x, the opticalhousing 4 is supported in the containing portion 2 x of the front covermember 2 slidably only in the direction along the second optical axisO2, as well as its movement in the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 4,which is a direction perpendicular to the second optical axis O2, beingrestricted.

Further, a plate form holding member 21 (see FIG. 4) is disposed on therear-side outer surface of the optical housing 4; the plate form holdingmember 21 is fixed by screwing by a plurality of screws 31 (see FIG. 4)to fixing portions 2 j, 2 k, 2 l provided on the inner side of the frontcover member 2.

That is, the optical housing 4 is disposed in a form sandwiched betweenthe inner surface of the front cover member 2 and the plate form holdingmember 21, being arranged in the containing portion 2 x of the frontcover member 2. In this way, therefore, movement of the optical housing4 in the direction along the Z-axis shown in FIG. 4, which is adirection along the first optical axis O1, is restricted.

Meanwhile, shock absorbing means 26 is disposed on the front side of theoptical housing 4. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the shock absorbing means26 is constituted of a shock absorbing member 24 made of a resilientbutyl-based rubber member or the like, formed in the shape of a thinflat plate, and a first thin plate 22 and second thin plate 23 made ofmetal, resin or the like sandwiching both sides of the shock absorbingmember 24.

When the optical housing 4 is arranged in the containing portion 2 x ofthe camera main body of the digital camera 1, the shock absorbing means26 is arranged between the outer surface (front surface) of the opticalhousing 4 and the containing portion 2 x of the inner surface of thefront cover member 2 facing thereto. In addition, the first thin plate22 on one side is screwed onto the front surface of the optical housing4 by means of screws 32 (see FIG. 4) between the optical housing 4 andthe front cover member 2. Further, the second thin plate 23 on the otherside is fixed to a predetermined region of the containing portion 2 x(camera main body side) of the front cover member 2.

Specifically, the second thin plate 23 has notch portions 23 m, 23 nformed in both side edges which face each other across the secondoptical axis O2 when the shock absorbing means 26 is mounted to theoptical housing 4. In correspondence thereto, engagement protrusions 2m, 2 n are formed on the inner side of the containing portion 2 x of thefront cover member 2 at the regions which face the notch portions 23 m,23 n when the optical housing 4 having the shock absorbing means 26mounted is contained in the containing portion 2 x (camera main bodyside) of the front cover member 2.

In this way, when the optical housing 4 to which the shock absorbingmeans 26 is mounted is contained in the containing portion 2 x of thefront cover member 2, each of the notch portions 23 m, 23 n of thesecond thin plate 23 is respectively engaged with the engagementprotrusions 2 m, 2 n of the containing portion 2 x. In this way, thesecond thin plate 23 is fixed to the front cover member 2 with itsmovement in the direction along the second optical axis O2 (X-axisdirection of FIG. 4) being restricted. The shock absorbing member 24 isfixed by bonding with adhesive or the like to the substantially middleportion between both thin plates 22, 23.

As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of hole portions are formed near thesubstantially middle portion of the second thin plate 23. The holeportions are for letting out surplus adhesive or the like at the time ofbonding fixation between the shock absorbing member 24 and the secondthin plate 23.

The shock absorbing means 26 thus configured is sandwiched between theinner surface of the front cover member 2 (in the containing portion 2x) and the front surface (at least one outer surface) of the opticalhousing 4.

In this way, therefore, when the optical housing 4 is displaced bysliding in the direction along the second optical axis O2 relatively inthe camera main body of the digital camera 1 by shock, for example, theshock absorbing means 26 can absorb the shock by shearing force in thesecond optical axis O2 direction generated between the inner surfaceportion of the camera main body, that is, the inner surface of thecontaining portion 2 x of the front cover member 2 and the outer surfaceportion of the optical housing 4, that is, the front surface of theoptical housing 4.

In other words, since the shock absorbing member 24 is made of aresilient rubber-based member as mentioned above, when external force(including the component force in the X-axis direction) in the sheardirection, that is, the direction along the second optical axis O2 ofthe optical housing 4 (the direction along the X-axis shown in FIG. 4;the direction in which the optical lenses move) is applied, the opticalhousing 4 is moved to some extent in the same direction (the directionalong the second optical axis O2, that is, the direction along theX-axis) relatively to the camera main body (the front cover member 2) byshear deformation of the shock absorbing member 24.

In this case, in order to allow movement of the optical housing 4 in thedirection along the second optical axis O2 (the direction along theX-axis) thereby to avoid interference of the optical housing 4 with thecamera main body, the arrangement of the optical housing 4 with respectto the inner surface of the front cover member 2 is defined such thatsome amount of gap space is formed in the predetermined regions betweenboth ends of the optical housing 4 in the direction of movement (thesecond optical axis direction) and the inner surface of the camera mainbody, that is, in the regions indicated by reference numerals A and B inFIGS. 2 and 3.

The gap spaces A and B are set by considering various factors such asthe resilient force determined by the material of the shock absorbingmember 24, the shock absorbing ability in the shear direction, theweight of the optical housing 4, the weight of the digital camera 1itself, and the amount of external force applied by shock or the like.

Here, as for the gap spaces A and B, sufficient length should be securedwhen the amount of movement of the optical housing 4 is considered, forexample; however, if an unnecessarily large length of gap is secured byassuming a very large amount of shock force, for example, therequirement for reduction of the size of the camera main body cannot bemet. Therefore, in designing, in consideration of reduction of the sizeof the device as well, the length of the gap spaces A and B in the orderof about 1 mm, respectively, is secured, for example, in a small sizecamera or the like shown as an example in the present embodiment.

The shock absorbing means 26 may be arranged between the rear side ofthe optical housing 4 and the plate form holding member 21, or may bearranged on both front surface and rear surface of the optical housing4.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since theoptical housing 4 is disposed so as to be movable only in the directionalong the direction of movement of the optical lenses (the directionalong the second optical axis O2; the X-axis direction in FIG. 4) withrespect to the camera main body and the resilient shock absorbing means26 is disposed between one surface of the optical housing 4 and theinner surface of the camera main body, displacement in the sheardirection generated between one surface of the optical housing 4 and onesurface in the camera main body at the time of relative displacement ofthe optical housing 4 in the camera main body can be absorbed by theshock absorbing means 26. In this way, therefore, external force appliedby shock from the exterior and the like to the camera main body can beabsorbed and attenuated so that the optical housing 4 in the camera mainbody can be protected.

In addition, the shock absorbing means 26 can absorb displacement in theshear direction so that it can be formed in the shape of a thinner plateand therefore can contribute to reduction in the size of the devicewhile providing sufficient shock absorbing properties. Further, theshock absorbing means 26 is disposed not in the direction of movement ofthe optical lenses, where space for movement is required, but isdisposed in a plane along the direction of movement of the opticallenses; therefore, it can contribute to reduction in the size of thedevice.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described based onFIGS. 8 to 13. While the shock absorbing means 26 shown in theabove-described first embodiment has a configuration in which the shockabsorbing member 24 is sandwiched by the first thin plate 22 and thesecond thin plate 23, shock absorbing means 26′ adopted in the presentembodiment is constituted of the second thin plate 23 and the shockabsorbing member 24 with the first thin plate 22 eliminated, therebyachieving simplification of the structure.

Since the present embodiment is application of other shock absorbingmeans 26′ in place of the shock absorbing means 26 in the firstembodiment, the configuration is similar to the first embodiment inother respects. Accordingly, components other than the shock absorbingmeans 26′ are denoted by the same reference numerals as the firstembodiment and explanation thereof is omitted. The materials of theshock absorbing member 24 and the second thin plate 23 (hereinafterreferred to simply as “thin plate 23”) are the same as the firstembodiment.

One surface of the shock absorbing member 24 is fixed by bonding to theouter surface portion of the front side of the optical housing 4, andthe other surface is fixed by bonding to one surface of the thin plate23. In this case, the plate thickness of the shock absorbing member 24,the size of the bonding areas and the like are set to proper valuesdepending on the weight of the optical housing 4, shock acceleration tobe applied and the like. In a small size camera or the like such asshown as an example in the present embodiment, the plate thickness ofthe shock absorbing member 24 is in the order of about 0.5 to 1.0 mm,for example.

The thin plate 23 is fixed to a predetermined region in the innersurface portion of the containing portion 2 x of the front cover member2 of the camera main body. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 10, 11 andthe like, notch portions 23 m, 23 n are formed in both side edges of thethin plate 23 which face each other across the second optical axis O2when the shock absorbing means 26′ is mounted to the optical housing 4.

In correspondence therewith, engagement protrusions 2 m, 2 n are formedas shown in FIG. 9 at those regions of the inner side of the containingportion 2 x of the front cover member 2 which face the notch portions 23m, 23 n when the optical housing 4 to which the shock absorbing means26′ is mounted is contained in the containing portion 2 x (camera mainbody side) of the front cover member 2.

Thus, when the optical housing 4 to which the shock absorbing means 26′is mounted is contained in the containing portion 2 x of the front covermember 2, the notch portions 23 m, 23 n of the thin plate 23 arerespectively engaged with the engagement protrusions 2 m, 2 n of thecontaining portion 2 x. In this way, the thin plate 23 is fixed to thefront cover member 2 with its movement in the direction along the secondoptical axis O2 (the X-axis direction in FIG. 9) being restricted.

As shown in FIG. 10 and the like, a plurality of hole portions areformed near the substantially middle portion of the thin plate 23. Thehole portions are provided for letting out surplus adhesive or the likeat the time of bonding fixation between the shock absorbing member 24and the thin plate 23.

The shock absorbing means 26′ thus configured is sandwiched between theinner surface (in the containing portion 2 x) of the front cover member2 and the front surface (at least one outer surface) of the opticalhousing 4.

In this way, therefore, when the optical housing 4 is displaced bysliding in the direction along the second optical axis O2 relatively inthe camera main body of the camera 1 by shock, for example, the shockabsorbing means 26′ can absorb the shock by shearing force in the secondoptical axis O2 direction generated between the inner surface portion ofthe camera main body, that is, the inner surface of the containingportion 2 x of the front cover member 2 and the outer surface portion ofthe optical housing 4, that is, the front surface of the optical housing4.

In other words, since the shock absorbing member 24 is made of aresilient rubber-based member as mentioned above, when external force(including the component force in the X-axis direction) in the sheardirection, that is, the direction along the second optical axis O2 ofthe optical housing 4 (the direction along the X-axis shown in FIG. 9;the direction in which the optical lenses move) is applied, the opticalhousing 4 can be moved to some extent in the same direction (thedirection along the second optical axis O2, that is, the direction alongthe X-axis) relatively to the camera main body (the front cover member2) by shear deformation of the shock absorbing member 24.

In this case, in order to allow movement of the optical housing 4 in thedirection along the second optical axis O2 (the direction along theX-axis) thereby to avoid interference of the optical housing 4 with thecamera main body, the arrangement of the optical housing 4 with respectto the inner surface of the front cover member 2 is defined such thatsome amount of gap space is formed in the predetermined regions betweenboth ends of the optical housing 4 in the direction of movement (thesecond optical axis direction) and the inner surface of the camera mainbody, that is, in the regions indicated by reference numerals A and B inFIG. 8.

The gap spaces A and B are set depending on various factors such as theresilient force determined by the material of the shock absorbing member24, the shock absorbing ability in the shear direction, the weight ofthe optical housing 4, the weight of the camera 1 itself, and the amountof external force applied by shock or the like.

Here, as for the gap spaces A and B, sufficient length should be securedwhen the amount of movement of the optical housing 4 is considered, forexample; however, if an unnecessarily large length of gap is secured byassuming a very large amount of shock force, for example, therequirement for reduction of the size of the camera main body cannot bemet. Therefore, in designing, in consideration of reduction of the sizeof the device as well, the length of the gap spaces A and B in the orderof about 1 mm, respectively, is secured, for example, in a small sizecamera or the like shown as an example in the present embodiment.

An aspect is also conceivable in which the shock absorbing means 26′ isarranged between the rear side of the optical housing 4 and the plateform holding member 21. Therefore, an exemplary configuration is alsopossible in which both of the exemplary configuration of the presentembodiment, in which the shock absorbing means 26′ is disposed on thefront side of the optical housing 4, and the aspect in which the shockabsorbing means 26′ is provided on the rear side are applied.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the shockabsorbing means 26′ is constituted of two parts, that is, the shockabsorbing member 24 and the thin plate 23, simplification of theconfiguration can be achieved as compared with the shock absorbing means26 shown in the first embodiment. The effects and advantages in otherrespects are similar to the first embodiment.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 14 to 17.The present embodiment is a variation of the second embodiment describedabove. While the shock absorbing means 26′ shown in the secondembodiment described above has its one surface fixed by bonding to theouter surface portion of the front side of the optical housing 4, shockabsorbing means 26″ adopted in the present embodiment is positioned byfitting the shock absorbing member 24 in a frame portion 4 f formed onthe outer surface portion of the optical housing 4.

In the present embodiment, a frame portion 4 f is formed on the outersurface portion of the optical housing 4 and positioning can beperformed by fitting the shock absorbing member 24 in the frame portion4 f, so the position alignment at the time of mounting is facilitatedand improvement of the efficiency of the assembly work can be achieved.Since the present embodiment is a variation of the second embodiment,components in common with those in the second embodiment are denoted bythe same reference numerals and explanation thereof is omitted. Thematerials of the shock absorbing member 24 and the thin plate 23 are thesame as the second embodiment.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 14 to 17, a frame portion 4 f in arectangular shape is formed on one surface of the optical housing 4which is parallel to the direction along the second optical axis O2,that is, the flat surface on the front side, and a concave portion 4 eis formed inside the frame portion 4 f.

In addition, the shock absorbing means 26″ is constituted of the thinplate 23 and the shock absorbing member 24 one surface of which is fixedby bonding to the thin plate 23, in the same way as the secondembodiment. The shock absorbing member 24 is formed in a shape to befitted in the concave portion 4 e formed inside the frame portion 4 f.In this case, one surface of the shock absorbing member 24 is bonded tothe flat surface portion at the bottom of the concave portion 4 ethrough a bonding member such as a double-sided tape or adhesive. Inthis way, therefore, the shock absorbing member 24 is fixed to theoptical housing 4 with its movement in the direction along the secondoptical axis O2 (the X-axis direction in FIG. 9) being restricted by theinner wall surface of the frame portion 4 f.

The plate thickness of the shock absorbing member 24 is formed to begreater than the depth of the concave portion 4 e. Thus, when the shockabsorbing member 24 is mounted in the concave portion 4 e, the platethickness of the shock absorbing member 24 slightly protrudes from theend surface of the concave portion 4 e. In this case, the platethickness of the shock absorbing member 24, the size of the bondingareas, the amount of protrusion from the end surface of the frameportion 4 f and the like are determined to be of proper values dependingon the weight of the optical housing 4, shock acceleration to be appliedand the like. In a small size camera or the like such as shown as anexample in the present embodiment, the plate thickness of the shockabsorbing member 24 is in the order of about 0.5 to 1.0 mm, for example.The amount of protrusion of the shock absorbing member 24 from the endsurface of the frame portion 4 f is in the order of about 0.2 to 0.3 mm,for example.

In the same way, one surface of the thin plate 23 is bonded to the othersurface of the shock absorbing member 24 with a double-sided tape,adhesive or the like, for example. As shown in FIG. 14 and the like, ahole portion 23 a is provided as a perforation near the substantiallymiddle portion of the thin plate 23. The hole portion 23 a is forletting out surplus adhesive or the like at the time of bonding fixationbetween the shock absorbing member 24 and the thin plate 23.

In addition, notch portions 23 m, 23 n are formed in both side edges ofthe thin plate 23 which face each other across the second optical axisO2 when the shock absorbing means 26″ is arranged in a predeterminedposition of the optical housing 4. In correspondence therewith,engagement protrusions 2 m, 2 n are formed at those regions on the innerside of the containing portion 2 x of the front cover member 2 whichface the respective notch portions 23 m, 23 n of the thin plate 23 whenthe optical housing 4 to which the shock absorbing means 26″ is mountedis contained in the front cover member 2 (camera main body side) of thecamera 1.

Thus, when the optical housing 4 to which the shock absorbing means 26″is mounted is contained in the containing portion 2 x of the front covermember 2, the notch portions 23 m, 23 n of the thin plate 23 arerespectively engaged with the engagement protrusions 2 m, 2 n of thecontaining portion 2 x. In this way, therefore, the thin plate 23 isfixed to the front cover member 2 with its movement in the directionalong the second optical axis O2 (the X-axis direction in FIG. 9) beingrestricted.

In addition, when the optical housing 4 is arranged in the containingportion 2 x of the camera main body of the camera 1, the shock absorbingmeans 26″ is arranged between the inner surface portion of thecontaining portion 2 x of the front cover member 2 and the concaveportion 4 e of the optical housing 4 facing the inner surface portion,and the shock absorbing member 24 is fitted in the concave portion 4 eto be positioned. In this way, therefore, when the optical housing 4 isdisplaced by sliding in the direction along the second optical axis O2relatively in the camera main body of the camera 1 by shock, forexample, the shock absorbing means 26″ can absorb the shock by shearingforce in the second optical axis O2 direction generated between theinner surface portion of the camera main body, that is, the innersurface of the containing portion 2 x of the front cover member 2 andthe front surface of the optical housing 4.

In other words, since the shock absorbing member 24 is made of aresilient rubber-based member as mentioned above, when external force(including the component force in the X-axis direction) in the sheardirection, that is, the direction along the second optical axis O2 ofthe optical housing 4 (the direction along the X-axis shown in FIG. 9;the direction in which the optical lenses move) is applied, the opticalhousing 4 can be moved to some extent in the same direction (thedirection along the second optical axis O2, that is, the direction alongthe X-axis) relatively to the camera main body (the front cover member2) by shear deformation of the shock absorbing member 24.

In this case, since the shock absorbing member 24 is arranged so as tobe mounted in the concave portion 4 e of the front surface of theoptical housing 4, movement of the optical housing 4 in the secondoptical axis O2 direction is restricted to some extent. Meanwhile, inorder to allow movement of the optical housing 4 in the direction alongthe second optical axis O2 (the direction along the X-axis) thereby toavoid interference of the optical housing 4 with the camera main body,the arrangement of the optical housing 4 with respect to the innersurface of the front cover member 2 is defined such that some amount ofgap space is formed in the predetermined regions between both ends ofthe optical housing 4 in the direction of movement (the second opticalaxis direction) and the inner surface of the camera main body, that is,in the regions indicated by reference numerals A and B in FIG. 8.

The gap spaces A and B are set depending on various factors such as theresilient force determined by the material of the shock absorbing member24, the shock absorbing ability in the shear direction, the weight ofthe optical housing 4, the weight of the camera 1 itself, and the amountof external force applied by shock or the like.

Here, as for the gap spaces A and B, sufficient length should be securedwhen the amount of movement of the optical housing 4 is considered, forexample; however, if an unnecessarily large length of gap is secured byassuming a very large amount of shock force, for example, therequirement for reduction of the size of the camera main body cannot bemet. Therefore, in designing, in consideration of reduction of the sizeof the device as well, the length of the gap spaces A and B in the orderof about 1 mm, respectively, is secured, for example, in a small sizecamera or the like shown as an example in the present embodiment.

In addition to the above-described configuration, the shock absorbingmember 24 may also be arranged between the rear side of the opticalhousing 4 and the plate form holding member 21.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since theconcave portion 4 e in which the shock absorbing member 24 is mounted isformed by the frame portion 4 f on the side of the optical housing 4,the shock absorbing member 24 is mounted in the concave portion 4 ethereby to be positioned with respect to the optical housing 4, so thatthe position alignment at the time of mounting is facilitated andimprovement of the efficiency of the assembly work can be achieved. Theeffects and advantages in other respects are similar to the secondembodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments;for example, the shock absorbing means may be a single body of the shockabsorbing member 24, one surface of which is fixed by bonding or thelike to at least one outer surface portion of the optical housing, andthe other surface of which is fixed by bonding or the like to the innersurface of the containing portion 2 x.

Of course, it is possible that various variations and applications ofthe present invention can be implemented in a scope not departing fromthe gist of the invention. Further, inventions of various stages areincluded in the above-described embodiments; various inventions can beextracted by appropriate combination of a plurality of constituentrequirements disclosed. For example, when some constituent requirementsare deleted from the entire constituent requirements shown in theembodiments, if a problem described in a section of problems to besolved by the invention can be solved and an advantage described inadvantages of the invention can be obtained, a configuration with theseconstituent requirements deleted can be extracted as an invention.

Having described the preferred embodiments of the invention referring tothe accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the presentinvention is not limited to those precise embodiments and variouschanges and modifications thereof could be made by one skilled in theart without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

1. A digital camera comprising: an optical housing having a generally flat shape, which includes an optical system for guiding an entering photographic object light to an image pickup device located on an optical axis and forming an optical image; a camera main body having a containing portion configured to contain the optical housing such that the optical housing can be displaced; a plate form holding member fixed to the camera main body from an opposite side of the containing portion of the optical housing so as to sandwich the optical housing contained in the containing portion of the camera main body between the holding member and an inner surface of the containing portion; and a shock absorbing section, one surface of which is fixed to an outer surface of the optical housing and the other surface of which is fixed to an inner surface side of the containing portion of the camera main body, the inner surface side facing an outer surface of the optical housing, wherein, when an external shock force is not applied to the camera main body, the optical housing is pressed by the plate form holding member in a direction of the inner surface of the containing portion with respect to the camera main body to thereby restrict movement of the optical housing, and when an external force is applied to the camera main body in a state where the optical housing is pressed by the plate form holding member in the direction of the inner surface of the containing portion and movement of the optical housing is restricted, the optical housing is displaced in the containing portion with respect to the camera main body and the plate form holding member by shear deformation of the shock absorbing section, to thereby absorb a shock to the optical housing by a shear force generated at the time of the displacement.
 2. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the optical system is a bending optical system for reflecting a photographic object light entering along a first optical axis to a second optical axis direction perpendicular to the first optical axis, and when the optical housing is contained in the containing portion, the plate form holding member presses the optical housing in a direction perpendicular to the second optical axis direction and presses the optical housing against the inner surface of the containing portion, to thereby restrict the movement of the optical housing.
 3. The digital camera according to claim 1, wherein the shock absorbing section includes a thin plate fixed to the inner surface of the containing portion of the camera main body, and a shock absorbing member fixed in a state of being sandwiched between the thin plate and the optical housing.
 4. The digital camera according to claim 3, wherein the thin plate is formed with a notch portion in a peripheral portion, an engagement protrusion is formed at the containing portion of the camera main body, and the notch portion formed on the thin plate engages with the engagement protrusion of the containing portion of the camera main body to fix the thin plate with respect to the containing portion of the camera main body. 